The Making Your Home A Haven – 9th Annual Fall Challenge – is back!!!

Welcome back to the Making Your Home a Haven — 9th Annual Fall Challenge! This is the Soul Care Edition and it will run through the entire month of November. If you’ve been around a while – you already know all about this series and might even have your candle going right now!

Each week I will give you one practical tip and one spiritual discipline that you can do to create a haven in your home.

Is your calendar full? Do you feel tense, rushed and even panicked at times?

You need soul care!

I believe we can create a physical environment, as well as a spiritual environment, that can bring peace, harmony and a sense of calmness to our souls, if we are willing to be intentional.

Our spiritual emphasis this year is on these 4 Spiritual Disciplines – Gratitude, Meditation, Prayer and Fasting.

Each Monday I will be here with an explanation of the Spiritual Focus for the week. I will include some ideas of ways you can implement that spiritual discipline into your life. I will also remind you of the physical tips you can do in your home that will bring beauty into your life and turn your home into a haven.

This is going to be a powerful time of going deeper in walk with God while tending to the desperate needs of our soul. So many times we try to mask our struggles, pain, confusion or emptiness by keeping busy and distracted or eating food, going on vacation, seeking success or elevating certain relationships. While many of these are blessings from God, they are not good substitutes for God. Our souls desperately need a deep connection with God. So let’s do this together!

Here’s the topic schedule:

Week 1: November 5th

Spiritual Focus: Gratitude – Start a daily Gratitude List.

Practical Tip: Go buy an extra large candle and light a candle everyday in your home this month. When you see the flicker of the candle, let it remind you to say a prayer of thanksgiving.

16 Rejoice always,17 pray without ceasing,18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Week 2: November 12th

Spiritual Focus: Meditation – Choose one passage of scripture to meditate on every single day this week.

Practical Tip: Play soft music everyday in your home. Choose worship, classical, jazz or another form of peaceful music that you enjoy. Focus on good, peaceful and true thoughts and let the frustrations of this world go. Rest and release all of your worries to the Lord.

1Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

(Psalm 1)

Week 3: November 19th

Spiritual Focus: Prayer – Take time to have deeper and more meaningful times of prayer this week.

Practical Tip: Keep your candle burning, the music playing and purchase a small bouquet of flowers for yourself. Let that bouquet be a daily reminder of God’s love for you.

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.(James 5:16)

Week 4: November 26th

Spiritual Focus: Fasting and Solitude – Last week you enjoyed a great feast of food for Thanksgiving Day. This week let’s feast our soul on God through fasting. You can choose to do a 24 hour fast or fast one meal a day for 7 days in a row or fast from something like social media, screen time, shopping or whatever you choose.

Practical Tip: Seek out a place of solitude to care for your soul. Get alone with God out on your porch, on a walk in your neighborhood or take a bubble bath. Sit still and be alone with God.

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.(Matthew 6:16-18)

Let’s tend to our souls in the month of November and watch how the Lord speaks to us and moves in our lives!!!

12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord.
(Jeremiah 29:12,13)

Will you take the challenge?

I’ll be here cheering you on!

If you are joining us – it’s time to prepare for the first challenge by going out and purchasing a large candle. Share in the comments what your favorite scent of candle is!

Comments

Yay!!! I LOVE this challenge and look forward to it every year. I am really looking forward to it this year and going deeper with God, especially before the craziness of the holidays sets in. Thank you Courtney!

There are no sign-ups – just come join us every Monday here on the blog through the month of November. If you want to be sure you don’t miss a thing – subscribe to my blog via email along the sidebar or if you are on a device you will find it by scrolling through the comments- to the very bottom and there you can subscribe.

Yes Nelly – you can join us here on the blog every Monday, you can subscribe to the blog via email along the top of the sidebar (or if you are on a device scroll to the bottom of this comment section to find the place to subscribe) or follow along on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/WomenLivingWell

A friend posted this on Facebook and after reading it I’m in!! I have no idea yet what sent I like as I have only had plain candles for when the electricity goes out. I’m excited to find a candle I like and start. Thank you for doing this!

I’m so looking forward to this! I ordered the red plaid one-it reminds me of the glorious holiday season! Thank you so much for bringing us all together for the good of each one of us, the good of our home environment, & the good of our God!

I love this challenge every year. I have started using battery operated candles that are on a timer. I still burn real ones from time to time but found that I forget to blow them out. I love the smell of evergreen candles. It is the perfect time of year for that one and helps me to prepare for the winter and christmas coming. Thank you for reminding us to take care of ourselves. To stop and get personal with Jesus! Love you Courtney, hope that someday we can meet in person. Lyn

Tyler candles are the BEST!! I have several favs on my Christmas wish list. My all time fav Tyler Candles aren’t fall scents lol…though I love those too. My all time favs are limelight and pineapple crush. More for Spring and Summer but smell sooo good. For this year, I will be getting the mulled cider and the pumpkin spice (can’t remember if that’s the actual name of it but basically the same)
Thank You, Courtney for doing this again. We just love you!!

I am very excited about this! I have a wide variety of “favorite” scents. From freshly mowed grass and sawdust to lilac and lavender to spicy holiday scents. Maybe I’ll get a new candle for every week! (do they even make grass and sawdust candles?)

So thankful for this challenge every year Courtney! I love apple-cinnamon and pumpkin scents for fall. This year I am especially looking forward to your spiritual challenges, as one of our children (DD, college-age) has gone astray, rejecting both Christ & our family. The last 6 months have been a dark night of the soul for my husband, myself, and our other (younger) children. We have been praying more than we ever have before. We are just now starting to feel like we all can begin to get back into the swing of things and are looking forward to fall and the upcoming holidays.

This sounds like a wonderful way to prepare for Thanksgiving and an ongoing Attitude of Gratitude! When purchasing a candle, please consider buying an all natural soy-based candle to avoid bringing toxins and soot into our havens. I love candles…but now I mostly diffuse therapeutic grade pure essential oils and lite minimal candles…I’ve lit a “quiet-time candle” for years and agree this is a good reminder to pray. Bless you!

I am excited to begin this challenge! I have been struggling with the loss of a job at the end of last year and have let my house and in ways, my life go. Recently, I started to put the house back together. This challenge will be a perfect way to bring things back into sync after “cleaning up after the disaster”.

Hang in there Dawn! I didn’t lose my job, but I had to walk away from a job that I was at for 21 years and start over. It was gut wrenching and heart breaking, but little by little and day by day the Lord heals those scars and provides. He loves us! I will pray for you !!
Glenda

I’m in! So excited to be a part of something meant to be calming and inspiring! I love Yankee Candles because they last the longest from those that I have tried. I love all the scents, but this time of year, I love the apples and cinnamon and pumpkin scented candles!

I’m in!! Super excited!! I’m a Scentsy girl, so I’m very picky about candles and rarely use them, I have my Scentsy warmers going 24/7 (so this will be extra special 😊) when I do use a candle … it’s a Crossroads candle and I really like the food scents!! I’m going to go purchase my candle hopefully this weekend. I appreciate these studies SO MUCH!! ❤️

I’m really looking forward to this and I’ll need your prayers that I can stick with it!!! I’m going to print out the fly lady info/schedule too because I really need to get my house clean and organized!!! I have a soy Macintosh Apple candle, and a few Yankee candles too. Is there any information about the past challenges in the archives?

My favorite candle scents are anything with spice, such as cinnamon, cloves, vanilla! I also enjoy Pine, Cedar, Lavender, and lemon!
Thank you for bringing this challenge back, I believe that regardless of what our marital status, we can work towards and truly enjoy making our homes a haven!❤️🙏

I’m excited to join this challenge for the 1st time. Since I’m unable to use most scented candles, I’ll be using my essential oil diffuser with the blend I need that day. My current favorite aromas are: Wild Orange +Peppermint and OnGuard + Eucalyptus. 😊

I am excited! I really enjoyed the book of Ruth, Courtney. You and your mom did an awesome job! I look forward to this fall haven every year, it is hard to make peace out of such a chaotic school season but I try. I look forward to some guidance and encouragement with the tracker. I bought one when you had the tracking program, but I never did it. Looking forward hopefully to this season and appreciate all the help and support that you give me.

I love this challenge! It’s the perfect time to be focused on things above as we head into a busy holiday season. My favorite scents are linen or clean laundry like. And anything cozy. Thank you for challenging us❤️

It’s my favorite time of the year! Tomorrow I am making my large natural beeswax candle as I am ridiculously allergic to pretty much all scents. This year I am so excited my eldest daughter will be joining me! I can’t believe I have been doing this sense the beginning. Thank you!

I love the smell of cinnamon, cloves, orange, and peppermint this time of year!
I will use my diffuser with the light on for this month. I miss candles, but they give me a headache these days, so I have to stick with my oils.

I love cinnamon scents of fall. I use essential oils more than candles but found one at Hobby Lobby that isn’t over powering to burn for this month. I’m so excited for this soul care in the month of November. A perfect time to reset and focus on the truth of the Holiday season.